Curriculum Plans for 5th Grade

We are gearing up for the start of 5th grade!!  Homeschool curriculum has been bought, school supplies shopped for, and school room cleaned out.  All that's left is for me to pick a start date.  :)  Here is out 5th grade homeschool curriculum list.

We will be using Creation to Christ from Heart of Dakota, which provides a deeper look at the ancient time period from creation to Christ told in story form.

For History, the main spine will be The Story of the Ancient World.  Other resources will includes Genesis: Finding Our Roots, A Child's Geography Explore the Holy Land, and What in the World? Vol. I - Ancient Civilizations & the Bible.

Heart of Dakota also schedules History Read Alouds and some we will be reading include: Dinosaurs of Eden, Boy of the Pyramids: A Mystery of Ancient Egypt, and City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction.

For Science, we will be using Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day.  You can see my review of this book here.  We are very excited to get started on this!

Other Science resources will include: Exploring the History of Medicine, An Illustrated Adventure in Human Anatomy, and Plant Life in Field and Garden.

For Math we are switching from Rightstart E to Saxon 65.   I'm hoping it is a smooth transition.

I've flipped through the book and Funny Bunny has taken the placement tests,  She could probably go a level higher, but she could use the review and she would still be on track.  No sense in creating tears when there doesn't need to be!!



We are also, just for fun, going to be working through Your Business Math: Pet Store by Simply Charlotte Mason.  We are both very excited to get going with this but I'll be scheduling it during our "free time".  I'm hoping it's an incentive to get school done early.  We may even schedule it on the weekends if we can't find the time. 

And to make it extra special, and hopefully more fun, I've told her that she can create the pet shop in real life, with her stuffed animals.  :)

For English Grammar we will be using Rod & Staff English 5.  Heart of Dakota actually schedules this book over two years so we will be taking it slow.  I think they only schedule two lessons a week.  Funny Bunny is pretty happy about that.

I was worried that working in this book over two years would put her behind, but after reading threads on different boards, it looks like English 5 is advanced enough that you can do that.


For Independent Reading we are using the Drawn Into the Heart of Reading Teacher's Guide and Student Book Level 6/7/8.  I've chosen a bunch of books, each in a different genre, that she is to read independently.  After each chapter is read, we go over discussion questions and sometimes there is a worksheet for her to complete.  

For Latin we are going to be using Visual Latin this year.  I've also done a review of it here.

Dwane Thomas is hilarious so I'm hoping it will bring some fun to her Latin lessons.

We'll be using some other things here and there, but this is pretty much the bulk of what we will be working on this year.  


I'd love to hear about your homeschool curriculum plans for the upcoming school year.  Link up if you have posted about it.  To see what Funny Bunny used from PreK to 4th, look to the sidebar on the left.



©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/ 

Tyndale Rewards Program

Have you heard of the Tyndale Rewards program?  I've been enrolled in it for a while now and want to share this awesome opportunity with everyone!

The Tyndale Rewards program is designed to provide you with opportunities to get books and Bibles for zero dollars.   

 

That’s right — F. R. E. E.   

 

As a member of the Tyndale Rewards program, you’ll have access to inspiring literature, Bibles, special promotional offers, and much more.

 

Other member incentives include a free gift on your birthday, along with opportunities to share your personal recommendations and feedback concerning  Tyndale products.  The more participation you have with the program, the more points you earn—and points translate into free stuff!

 

The Tyndale Rewards program is a great way to get free books and Bibles that you can keep for yourself or give to friends and family.  Your journey to earning free faith-based products is here!

 

Earning points is simple.  Just sign up, refer friends, take surveys, complete your profile, review books, and redeem points.  Oh, and the points never expire!

 

This is such a great way to get totally FREE books!  Join today and spread the word!

 

Freebie Friday

Here are the FRIDAY FREEBIE deals today!  ENJOY!!

FREE - Science Activity Video Series and Guidebook {$30 Value} @ Supercharged Science

FREE - Halloween Science Activity Series {$20 Value} @ Supercharged Science

FREE - Homeschool Units @  Future.Flying.Saucers

FREE - Bible Lessons for Kids @ Future.Flying.Saucers

FREE - Summer Writing Program for Students @ Injoy Inc.

FREE - Reading Log and Book Report Printables @ My Joy-Filled Life

FREE - Online Organizer @ Trello

FREE - Me on the Map: USA Edition @ CurrClick

FREE - Early Reader Ideas and Resources @ Homeschool Giveaways and Freebies

FREE - Homeschool Planet Trial @ Homeschool Buyers Co-op 

I hope you enjoy some of these FREEBIES!  If you know of any others, please leave a comment below.  Thanks and have a great weekend!!

©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/

Wordless Wednesday: Maisy Moo in the Afternoon

©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/

Menu Plan Monday - July 22

We finally have a new fridge and I was able to menu plan for the week!!!  We are close to being stocked up again and it is so nice to have more than a couple things on hand! 

So here are our dinners for the week:

Stuffed Manicotti and rolls {we had enough for leftovers tonight}!!
Simple Roast Whole Chicken with green beans and a side
Chicken Fajitas and chips and salsa {using leftover chicken from the night before}
Minestrone Soup
Homemade Pineapple Pizza

For dessert this week I made a loaf of Chocolate Chip Banana Bread...YUM!!

What are your plans for the week?

And the Schoolhouse Planners Winner Is...

Comment #6:  Sewing Mom said...I left a comment on your Wednesday post with the guinea pigs. =)

I used Random.org to pick the winner and I have already notified her via email.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Schoolhouse Planners Giveaway via Our Homeschool Reviews!

A Big Year for Lily Book Review & Giveaway Extravaganza!

About A Big Year for Lily:

Book Three in the Adventures of Lily Lapp series. Co-written with Mary Kinsinger.

Lily Lapp's family has settled into their new home in Pennsylvania, but life still holds big changes and big steps for Lily. Good changes, like once again living close to her beloved cousin and best friend, Hannah. Bad changes, like a mean girl who plays tricks on her. And no change at all where Lily would most want one--Aaron Yoder still sits near her in school and relentlessly teases her. Surprises are in store for Lily as she learns, with Mama and Papa's help, to manage the ups and downs of growing up Amish.

Funny Bunny has actually read the first two Lily Lapp books and was excited to dive right in and read the third!  

Thoughts of a 10-Year Old:  A Big Year For Lily is a book about Lily Lapp, a girl growing up Amish.  Girls that Lily knows, Beth, Hannah, and Effie, are all ten, wear grown-up clothes and sit together at church.  So when Lily's 10th birthday is around the corner, she can hardly wait!

Lily's life is full of adventure and excitement in Pennsylvania.  She has a new brother, goes to a taffy pull, gets a new grown-up dress, puts up with mean old Effie, and tries to reason with Hannah, who has lost all sense when it comes to boys.

Life for Lily is about to get even more interesting and I can't wait to read more! 

About the Authors:  Mary Ann Kinsinger was raised Old Order Amish in Pennsylvania. After her and her husband chose to leave the Amish church, Mary Ann began a blog, A Joyful Chaos, as a way to capture her warm memories of her childhood for her own children.  Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of The Letters, the Lancaster County Secrets series, and the Stoney Ridge Seasons series, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. 

Find Out More:  You can find out more about The Adventures of Lily Lapp Series online at Amazon.  A Big Year for Lily is available as paperback for $9.35 and recommended for ages 8-12.  You can also find out more at The Adventures of Lily Lapp. 

--------------------------------------------------------

GIVEAWAY!!

Suzanne Woods Fisher is celebrating the release of A Big Year for Lily, book three in the beloved Adventures of Lily Lapp series, with a giveaway extravaganza!

One winner will receive:

*  An iPad Adventure Pack (includes a fun stand and an art kit) 

Twelve winners will receive:

*  Special prizes specially picked by Lily (something new each day)!  Suzanne will announce the winners on July 29 on her blog!

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below.  But hurry, the giveaway ends on July 27th.  All winners will be announced July 29th at Suzanne's blog. 

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to visit Suzanne's blog on the 29th to see if you won one of the fun prizes!  (Or better yet, subscribe to her blog and have the winner announcement delivered to your inbox!)

Freebie Friday!!

Here are the FRIDAY FREEBIE deals today!  ENJOY!!

FREE - Science Activity Video Series and Guidebook {$30 Value} @ Supercharged Science

FREE - Halloween Science Activity Series {$20 Value} @ Supercharged Science

FREE - First Lessons in Nature Study @ CurrClick

FREE - Animal Kingdom Notebooks @ Our Worldwide Classroom

FREE - Joy of Handwriting Curriculum @ Homeschool Giveaways and Freebies

FREE - Bible Verses for Weary Moms @ Comfort in the Cupboards

FREE - Online Lesson Planner @ My Mardel Homeschool

FREE - Keys to High School Success: Get Your Homeschool High School Started Right @ Amazon

FREE - Roller Coaster Unit Study @ Susan's Homeschool Blog

I hope you enjoy some of these FREEBIES!  If you know of any others, please leave a comment below.  Thanks and have a great weekend!!

©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/

Picaboo Yearbooks Review

If you are like me, you have a ton of digital photos stored on your computer that you never get to look at because they are not in a photo album.

I've tried my hand at scrapbooking, but it's honestly not for me.  It takes up too much space and I'm really not that creative.

Picaboo Yearbooks actually makes creating a photo album pretty simple!  You can order as few or as many as you want. There are no minimums, no penalty fees, late charges or surprise fees, so there is no financial risk.

I had the opportunity to create a 20-page soft cover book.   Prices start at just $8.49 for a 9" x 11" or 8.5" x 11" 20-page book, which in my opinion, is a pretty good value.  There is also no minimum order and a three week turnaround.  Oh, and e-Yearbooks are FREE to every school, with no obligation to print. 

Picaboo Yearbooks would not only be great for schools, but for co-ops, teams, camps, clubs, and the homeschooling family in general.  I wish this would have been available when we were in a homeschool co-op several years ago.

After much thought, I decided that I would chronicle Funny Bunny's school years to date {K-4}. So about four pages per grade. 

Before getting started though, I looked at their Yearbook Ideas and watched a few of their tutorials.  I have to say that at first it was a little overwhelming and there was a bit of a learning curve.  I've used a few other digital album sites before and this format was different.

The first thing I did was create sections.  I made each section a different grade, but these could be sports or subjects in a school.  For a family it could be children's names.

From there I added pictures to each section.  For my project I could have easily just made one section and added all my pictures to that, but this is a great way for a school or co-op to divide up the yearbook.  In fact, with Picaboo Yearbooks, several people could be assigned to adding pictures, making having sections nice.

I also selected a "Back to School" background from the many they had available, and I was able to choose the picture layout for each page {you can see several options above and to the left}.  Once I selected a layout, I was also able to change it, which I liked.

Below are a few samples from our yearbook. 

My Thoughts:  Once I figured out how to use the program it was easy, but like I said before, there was a learning curve.  There was some delay in uploading pictures but that was remedied by loading fewer at a time. Overall I thought the quality of the book was nice.  The cover of ours was slightly curved up due to the printing though and I haven't been able to get it to sit flat.  Also, even though the price for one book is great, the shipping was $8.99, so the total cost to print and ship one book came to $17.48, which is more than I would normally pay.

Find Out More:  You can find out more online at Picaboo Yearbooks.  Prices start at just $8.49 for a 9" x 11" or 8.5" x 11" 20-page book.  You can add pages for just $0.22 each.  Ground shipping is free for 50 or more books and $8.99 for one book.

My Crewmates are also reviewing Picaboo Yearbooks, so you can check out what they think HERE.

©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/

Wordless Wednesday: Blast from the Past

While Funny Bunny is at dance camp I thought I'd post some pictures from when she first started dance.  What a cutie!!

 

©2010-2013 Our Homeschool Reviews. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/

Thirty-One Outlet Sale!

If you haven't heard, Thirty-One is having an Outlet Sale starting at 9 a.m. EST on Thursday, July 18 and ending at 3 a.m. EST on Saturday, July 20!!

To shop, just go to my Thirty-One website Thursday morning after 9 a.m. and click on the link to the sale.  I'm sure the site will be busy initially so please be patient.  

While you’re getting a great deal, you’ll also be giving back. For every product purchased during the Outlet Sale, Thirty-One Gives will donate one of our products to The Today Shows’ 20th Annual Holiday Toy and Gift Drive, up to 250,000 items!

All sales are final. Personalization isn't available during this sale. All items are available while supplies last. Prices do not include applicable sales tax and shipping and handling. Limit 31 of each item per customer. Gift certificates may not be used.

 

Extra Curricular Activities For Homeschoolers

Most of us are probably planning for the new school year...buying curriculum, checking out co-ops, and deciding what extracurricular activities to put our children in.

Each year I'm faced with the same dilemma:  Too many activities and not enough time!  Oh...and overcommitment!!

So looking ahead, below is what Funny Bunny will be participating in during her 5th grade year.

~ ~ ~

~ Dance ~
Starting in August she will be taking 8 dance classes, 3 days a week, totaling 6.25 hours.  Classes include Broadway, Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Ballet, two Technique classes, and Company {which includes all of the above and Hip Hop}.  She really enjoys dancing and spending time with her dance friends!

~ Piano ~
One 30-minute lesson once a week.  Funny Bunny has been taking piano for almost 3 years now.

~ Community Bible Study ~
We've been involved with CBS since Funny Bunny was 2 or 3 years old.  It runs from Sept to May and is held every Thursday from 9:30-11:30.  We usually take this day off school since dance is later in the day.

~ Book Clubs ~
She has been involved in an American Girl book club on the first Friday of each month from 10:30 - 12:00 for a couple years now.

This year we are also joining a Narnia book club on the first and third Thursday of each month from 1:00 - 3:00.  Since we already take Thursdays off for CBS, this fits into our schedule perfectly.

~ Church ~
Funny Bunny has recently been attending choir and a girls pre-teen group on Wednesday nights from 6:00 - 7:30.

~ ~ ~

So as I reflect on our schedule, I think it is doable.  We will be schooling until 3:00 on M, T, W, and F with Thursdays off for CBS and book club.  Four nights a week she either goes to dance/piano or church and enjoys those activities with her friends. 

What does your extracurricular activity schedule look like?

Alpha Omega Publications Sale ~ TODAY ONLY!!

Hearts at Home has decided to make their ONE DAY ONLY sale REALLY GREAT by offering you FREE Shipping PLUS a FREE Gift when you purchase $100 or more in Alpha Omega Publications products! Alpha Omega Publications has discounting policies and they only allow retailers to discount their products to 10% off for the rest of the year. This is the last time they are allowed to offer them at 20% off! FREE Shipping Offer Free Shipping on your ENTIRE ORDER when you purchase $100 or more in Alpha Omega Products! Use Coupon code AOPJULY at checkout! This free shipping offer is good for orders throughout the Contiguous United States only. Your order will ship best way, please allow additional time for delivery. Switched-On Schoolhouse is the next generation of homeschool curriculum by Alpha Omega. It's a comprehensive, Bible-based curriculum that offers computer-based learning for grades 3-12. With 3-D animation, video clips, and other fascinating multimedia, Switched-On Schoolhouse is the perfect homeschool curriculum for today's generation. SOS 5-Subject Sets include Bible, Math, Language Arts, Science, & History and Geography! SHOP NOW & SAVE 20%! Horizons is a brightly illustrated, engaging workbook curriculum filled with consumable lessons and hands-on activities by Alpha Omega. Designed with fast-paced lessons, Horizons uses a spiral learning method to help your student master concepts through the process of introduction, review, and reinforcement. SHOP NOW & SAVE 20%! LIFEPAC is a full-color, consumable worktext homeschool curriculum, by Alpha Omega, with Bible-based content for grades K-12. Designed by a team of accomplished educators with years of classroom experience, LIFEPAC is based on the principle of mastery learning. Students master content in each unit worktext before progressing to the next. This is considered an all-in-one boxed curriculum, but can be purchased as individual subjects as well as full sets. SHOP NOW & SAVE 20%! The Weaver Curriculum is a unique unit-based, Bible-centered homeschool curriculum by Alpha Omega. For grades PreK-12th, this family-based curriculum uses the same daily Bible theme as a foundation and then creates lessons for each student. Your students are then studying the same main subject the same time with individual lesson assignment geared to each student's grade level. SHOP NOW & SAVE 20%! Promotional Terms Any gift certificate earned will be applied to future orders at www.heartsathomestore.com and is not redeemable for cash or a refund. You will be emailed your gift certificate within 14 days after your purchase, to allow time for processing and shipping of your order. If you do not get your gift certificate after 14 days, please first check your spam/junk box and then contact them for support. If you return any of your items, you may be deducted for the amount of the gift certificate that was issued as they cannot be cancelled. Gift certificates do not expire. This promotion cannot be applied to previous purchases for price adjustments, or used after 7-15-13. Free shipping offer is good for orders throughout the Contiguous United States only. Your order will ship best way, please allow additional time for delivery.